Featured Image Source: Starlink Render Created By ErcX @ErcXspace via Twitter
Today, May 13th, Google Cloud announced a new partnership with SpaceX to connect its services to the Starlink satellite network. They will collaborate to set up the infrastructure needed to deliver high-speed data to businesses, including secure access to the cloud and broadband internet infrastructure. Under the partnership, SpaceX will build Starlink ground stations within Google data center properties. The ground stations will be connected to Google’s fiber-optic network to enable secure, low-latency delivery of data for more than 1,500 Starlink satellites launched to orbit, that could provide service to rural and remote locations via Google Cloud. To date, SpaceX has launched approximately 1,625 internet-beaming Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit, out of over 12,000 that will be part of the broadband constellation. The company is already providing beta service to customers in the United States and abroad.
Google data centers will help SpaceX’s Starlink network enable internet and cloud service around the world in ‘any location,’ including remote areas. “Organizations with broad footprints, like public sector agencies, businesses with presences at the network edge, or those operating in rural or remote areas, often require access to applications running in the cloud, or to cloud services like analytics, artificial intelligence, or machine learning,” Google representatives said in a press release on Thursday, “Connectivity from Starlink's constellation of low-Earth-orbit satellites provides a path for these organizations to deliver data and applications to teams distributed across countries and continents, quickly and securely.”
This new service for enterprise customers is expected to be available until the second half of 2021. “Combining Starlink's high-speed, low-latency broadband with Google's infrastructure and capabilities provides global organizations with the secure and fast connection that modern organizations expect,” said SpaceX President and Chief Operating Officer Gwynne Shotwell. “We are proud to work with Google to deliver this access to businesses, public sector organizations, and many other groups operating around the world.”
“Applications and services running in the cloud can be transformative for organizations, whether they're operating in a highly networked or remote environment," said Urs Hölzle, Senior Vice President, Infrastructure at Google Cloud. “We are delighted to partner with SpaceX to ensure that organizations with distributed footprints have seamless, secure, and fast access to the critical applications and services they need to keep their teams up and running.”
Featured Image Source: Starlink Render Created By @ErcXspace via Twitter
About the Author
Evelyn Arevalo
Evelyn J. Arevalo joined Tesmanian in 2019 to cover news as a Space Journalist and SpaceX Starbase Texas Correspondent. Evelyn is specialized in rocketry and space exploration. The main topics she covers are SpaceX and NASA.
